Separation of Church and State

Controversies emerge frequently surrounding the general issues of the First Amendment. Clashing of the first two clauses of the First Amendment create overlapping conflicts. The Establishment Clause, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," prohibits the government from involvement with any religious activities. Whereas the Free Exercise Clause, "prohibiting the free exercise there of," restricts the government from banning or discouraging of religious practices and activities. If the Supreme Court was to ban reading of the Bible in all public schools in an attempt to accommodate the Establishment Clause, this action would limit the right of those students who wish to read the Bible while in school. However, if reading of the Bible in public schools were accepted by the court following the Free Exercise Clause, the court will be promoting a religious activity which will go against the Establishment Clause. "The First Amendment creates two freedom of religion goals that are not always possible to reconcile" (Jurinski 5).

There are situations where the government should or should not get involved with religious activities or organizations. As a professor of law at Yale University and as a Christian, Stephen L. Carter believes that the "Constitution was designed to protect the religion from state, not the state from religion" (Jacobus 101). Carter had an encounter with a Christian minister who once operated a drug rehabilitation center in the inner city of New York. The minister raved of how well the program had done with a new technique and approach. The basis of the program was to assist and teach the method of prayer to those in need of help. Even though the program was successful, the rehabilitation center had to close down the operation due to financial issues. The program could not receive any government funding due to the program's religious background (Jacobus). The program assisted the people of this country helping better not only that person, but in efforts to better the entire society. The government offers financial assistance to other drug rehabilitation centers in the country but refuses to assist this particular program due to the religious affiliation. One would believe that the government would support such a program that is essential to better today's society. For the government to accept the method of treatment by prayer would be promoting of a religion which clearly and obviously violates the First Amendment.

If one was asked to identify an issue of great importance, religion prevails. Yet a group that is more diverse than churches of all denominations and varieties of religions would have to be the public school system. Since the public school systems are financially supported and provided by the United States government, they are considered a part of the government. The United States government is to generally stay neutral with regards to different religions.

Imagine how many different religious backgrounds are represented by all of the schools existing in the country. It is undeniable that this fact has been effortlessly generating controversies. The most common issue that arises from the school districts tends to be prayer. Many of the public school teachers recited a daily morning prayer with the students before beginning of class. These prayers were not mandatory and the students had the option to not participate. This issue has been resolved by discontinuing of the prayers in all public schools to satisfy the Establishment Clause. There is a reason why the United States permits private schools of a religious distinction. It allows the students who choose to attend a private school to learn of their religion of choice from the school. Other examples of controversies include reading the Bible in school, posting of the Ten Commandments, and even placing a cross on state property.

The neutral relationship between the church and state is very constitutional. Freedom of religion was promised and delivered by the United States government. In respect of the any religion in general, the United States government will never interfere with any religious practices or activities. The idea of a "wall of separation" was to completely disassociate the government and any religion existing in the country. While doing so, the United States court system has the witnesses swear on a Bible to tell the truth. We pledge of allegiance as "one nation under God" and the US currency contains the motto of "In God We Trust" (Jurinski). These elements within the American history blatantly display favoritism toward Christianity. How is it that a country which feels so strongly for maintaining a "wall of separation" between the church and state show such a promotion of one God?

There should be a limit to the government's role in dealing with the countless religions of the country. The state should have limited affiliation with religions and not isolate all the religion from the government. It is understandable where the government stands in terms of the separation. The main focus was to protect each religion from the state while treating each of them equally as well as fairly. To support each individual religion fairly would be a very difficult task, even for the most powerful government in the world. But yet, there are many instances where the government support may be needed. Prime example would be the drug rehabilitation program mentioned earlier. A notable project which assisted those in need of help of drug abuse with much higher success rate compared to other similar programs. It was not the fact that the program supported one religion and/or one god, but that a religion in general was related. The fact is that, this program did not promote one religion. They actually encouraged their clients to choose a religion of their choice if they had disagreed with the belief of one religion. This program did not discriminate against any other religion. It simply promoted a different way of life. The congress should be allowed to be lenient toward these types of cases.

The idea of the First Amendment was precisely developed with the purpose of peaceful practice of a religion. The government is directed to provide freedom of religion to the individuals of the country as a goal to separate the church and the state, not to disregard any support by the state to the church. There are numerous aspects to the separation of church and state. Mixed emotions are formed from the different views of each individual from a diverse group of religions. Several parties are always involved within the entire dilemma including the state, the church, and even the atheists. To keep each of these groups satisfied, the congress formed a "wall of separation." Even though some may suggest that the "wall of separation" should be replaced by a fence, the First Amendment remains to be the most important right given to the citizens of this country. That is what allows America to be the "land of free."